The 50th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1992 are

presented. Disney's Aladdin wins Best Original Score (by Alan Menken) and Best Original Song - "A Whole New

World" (performed by Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle and written by Menken & Tim Rice). Although nominated for

Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical, Aladdin is edged out by The Player. Robin Williams is given a Special Award

for his vocal contribution to Aladdin as the Genie.

"Animation has always been the heart and soul of the Walt Disney Company and it is wonderful to see Bob Iger and the company embrace that heritage by bringing the outstanding animation talent of the Pixar team back into the fold. This clearly solidifies

the Walt Disney Company's position as the dominant leader in motion picture animation

and we applaud and support Bob Iger's vision."

-Roy E. Disney's statement to the press on the acquisition of Pixar;

This Day in Disney History 2006

2006:

Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, announces that Disney has agreed to acquire computer animation leader Pixar in an all-stock transaction (totaled to be worth approximately $7.4 billion), expected to be completed by this summer.

1776:

German romantic and fantasy author/composer Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann is born in Prussia. Better known by his pen name E.T.A. Hoffman, he is the author of the novelette The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, on which the famous ballet The Nutcracker is based. The music from The Nutcracker (an 1892 ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky) can be heard in Disney's 1940 Fantasia during the "Nutcracker Suite" segment.

Walt Disney signs a contract with King Features to distribute his Mickey Mouse comic

strip. (King Features Syndicate is a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation.)

1965:

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color premieres a new mini-series titled "Gallegher." Gallegher, played by Roger Mobley, is a turn-of-the-century copyboy with a nose for news, first created by American writer Richard Harding Davis. The cast also includes Edmond O'Brien as Jefferson Crowley (Gallegher's boss) and Harvey Korman as Brownie. The MelloMen (a vocal quartet featuring Thurl Ravenscroft) make a brief appearance singing the theme song. On this evening's episode, Gallegher helps solve a bank robbery. This particular 3-episode mini-series will air over the next few weeks.

2000:

Robert A. Iger (former chairman of the Disney-owned ABC Group and president of Walt Disney International) is named president and chief operating officer of The Walt Disney Co., as well as a member of its board of directors. This makes Iger the company's number two executive under Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner.

SoapNet - a cable station launched by Disney/ABC - hits the air.

2002:

Disney announces it will release its major holiday 2002 animated feature, Treasure

Planet, simultaneously in 35mm venues as well as in IMAX theaters on November 27.

The film is directed by John Musker and Ron Clements (the team responsible for such classics as The Little

Mermaid) and features the vocal talents of Emma Thompson, Martin Short, and Brian Murray. Loosely based on

Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Treasure Island," Treasure Planet is an animated space adventure that follows a

fifteen-year-olds' fantastic journey across a parallel universe.

2003:

More than 100 Oscar statuettes presented over the past 75 years are

featured in a new exhibition at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences beginning this day. Included in the exhibit is the regular sized statuette and its seven smaller friends that were awarded to Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The Lizzie McGuire episode "Dear Lizzie" debuts on the Disney Channel. Premiering the same night is That's So Raven with the episode "A Fish Called Raven". The episode is directed by Fred Savage (star of the 1980s TV series The Wonder Years.)

1986:

Ricky Ullman, the star of Disney Channel's Phil of the Future, is born in Eilat, Israel. (Shortly after his first birthday his family moved to Fairfield, Connecticut.) He also appeared in Disney's 2004 made-for-TV movie Pixel Perfect and provided the voice of Eric for the 2005 Kim Possible: So the Drama.

NBC-TV airs Disney's Living Seas, a special combining music and humor, with a look at life beneath the seas and the spectacular new Living Seas Pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center. The Living Seas officially opened January 15.

1953:

Musician Matthew Wilder, best know for his 1983 hit song Break My Stride, is born in New York City. In 1998 he lent his singing voice to the character of Ling and was nominated for an Academy Award for Original Music Score (along with David Zippel and Jerry Goldsmith) for his work on the

Disney animated film Mulan.

2007:

It is reported that Walt Disney World’s "Strive for Five" energy reduction program has

won the second-annual Florida Energy Achievement Award. The award is presented by the

University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center to a company, organization or individual that has made a

significant achievement in the efficient use of energy, energy conservation, energy education or renewable energy in

Florida.

The official grand openings for Finding Nemo - The Musical at Disney's Animal Kingdom

and The Seas with Nemo and Friends at Epcot both take place.

Finding Nemo - The Musical is a forty-minute show (performed five times daily) at the Theater in the Wild at DAK. The

Theater in the Wild holds 1,500 guests and is the largest theater in Disney's Animal Kingdom. Finding Nemo - The

Musical marks the first time Disney has taken a non-musical movie and transformed it into a musical show for the parks.

The Seas with Nemo & Friends (previously The Living Seas) is a Pavilion and a ride themed as an underwater

exploration base, with several exhibits devoted to oceanic study. The pavilion features The Sea Base and Caribbean

At the Golden Globe Awards, "Reflection" (written by Matthew Wilder & David Zippel from Disney's Mulan) is edged out by "The Prayer" (from Quest for Camelot) for Best Original Song - Motion Picture. Best Original Score - Motion Picture goes to Burkhard von Dallwitz &

Philip Glass for their contribution to The Truman Show, beating out Randy Newman's music for Pixar's A Bug's Life.

The Walt Disney World Speedway hosts the first Indy 200 car race of the season.

Eddie Cheever wins with a time of 1'41:14.800.

1941:

The Disney short Pluto's Playmate, directed by Norm Ferguson, is released. Pluto fights with a baby seal during a visit to the beach ... but the seal soon has to come to his rescue from an attacking squid.

"Wilfred Jackson ... taught us thoroughness and the importance of detail. He had an immensely creative grasp of his whole picture and what he wanted it to do, but his big strength was in the astounding attention he gave to every last detail."

-animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas from their book The Illusion of Life

2010:

John Lasseter receives the 2010 David O. Selznick Achievement Award in

is the first producer of animated films to receive the Selznick Award.

1978:

Actress, writer, and comedienne Kristen Schaal is born in Longmont, Colorado. She is the voice of Trixie in Toy Story 3. Her film credits include Touchstone Pictures' When in Rome and Miramax Films' Kate & Leopold. (Best known for her role as Mel in the HBO series Flight of the

Conchords and as a contributor on The Daily Show, Schaal was named "Best Alternative Comedian" in 2006.)

1956:

Actress Helene Stanley appears on the ABC-TV series Mickey Mouse Club. Today is

Guest Star Day. Stanley is currently known for her role of Polly Crockett on Disney's Davy Crockett serial. She was also the animator's model for Cinderella.

1977:

It's Who, What, Why, Where, When and How Day on The New Mickey Mouse Club. The 6th episode of the new series features Disney sound effects specialist Jimmy Macdonald (the second voice of Mickey Mouse) visiting the Mouseketeers and showing them a few tricks of his trade. Today's Mousekartoon is the short Elmer Elephant.

1964:

The Restless Sea, an episode of the Bell Laboratory Science Series, airs on television. Produced by the Disney Studios, it features the voices of Sterling Holloway and Lawrence Dobkin.

George Newbern) is pushed around by his manager for maximum profit and longs for a normal life. Through a look-

alike contest he meets Matt (also portrayed by Newbern), a student who looks exactly like him and Bart proposes to

switch roles for a week. The cast also includes Elisabeth Shue, Tom Bresnahan and Michael Des Barres.

1988:

ABC-TV airs part two of The Disney Sunday Movie, "Earth Star Voyager." Spaceship Earth Star Voyager is sent to another solar system to prepare it for colonization because Earth is horribly polluted. But as the departing starship gets under way, signs begin to emerge that the mission may unwittingly be part of a larger conspiracy! The cast features Brian McNamara, Duncan Regehr, Julia Montgomery,

Jason Michas and Tom Bresnahan.

1992:

Disney premieres the Hollywood Pictures feature film Blame it on the Bellboy in London, England. Starring Dudley Moore, the film focuses on a case of mistaken identity of three individuals with similar sounding surnames staying at the same hotel. (The film will be released in the U.S. on March 6.)

The biographical film Prefontaine, chronicling the life of the American long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine and his death at age 24, is released. Produced by Disney's Hollywood Pictures and distributed by Disney's Buena Vista Pictures, the film stars Jared Leto, Ed O'Neill, R. Lee Ermey, and Kurtwood Smith.

2011:

Mickey's PhilharMagic, a 4-D film attraction directed by George Scribner, debuts at Tokyo Disneyland. First premiering at Walt Disney World in 2003, Mickey's PhilharMagic is a 12-minute-long show featuring 3D effects, scents, and water, as well as a number of characters from Disney movies.

1960:

Abigail E. Disney is born to Patricia Ann (née Dailey) and Roy E. Disney in Los Angeles, California. Granddaughter of Roy O. Disney, co-founder of The Walt Disney Company with

her great uncle Walt Disney, she is a documentary filmmaker, philanthropist, and social activist.